I think it would improve everyones quality of life if they suddenly didn't have to pay back their loans, however there is also the downside where the rest of society now has to pay for your mistakes.

Student loans are not always mistakes and quite a few people who are in trouble with debt are not in that situation due to things they themselves controlled (such as, but not limited to medical issues, divorces, natural disasters etc).

I am aware that there are people who succeeded despite their debt and now say that it wasn't a mistake. I am also aware that there are many reasons why someone can't pay off a debt. However, there are also reasons why the part of society who didn't fall for the college debt scam don't want to pay for the part of society who did fall for the college debt scam.

If other people get out of debt society as a whole improves, including you and everybody else. It's not a zero sum game.

> society as a whole improves, including you and everybody else

Massive assumption. People justify to themselves that something is good on a society-level when really it's just good on a selfish-level.

I believe that this can actually be bad on a society-level due to college debt being in the trillions.

The problem is not that people have college debt that they can't pay back. The problem is that there is such a thing as college debt to begin with. Education should be free. At all levels, to all takers.

I think the issue is even deeper.

I agree that education should be free, but not colleges. Colleges are involved in the business of credentialing and monopolising entry level jobs.

There is no use in education being free if there are credentialing businesses charging $320k (which I believe is going to increase as they teach more highschoolers why college debt is worth it) in order to use your skills in the job market.

Colleges who have a history of exploitative pricing have no place in the future of free education.